PCB Design Engineer

Powerus; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Powerus is hiring a PCB Design Engineer to own schematic capture and multilayer board layout across unmanned platforms. This role requires U.S.

Person status due to export-controlled data and involves translating hardware architecture into manufacturable designs, maintaining libraries, and collaborating with fabrication and assembly vendors. You will partner with avionics, power, RF, and manufacturing engineers, guiding designs through fabrication and first-article inspection, with emphasis on

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience capturing schematics and laying out multilayer PCBs in ECAD tools (Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or KiCad).
• Strong understanding of layer stackup, controlled impedance, and return paths.
• Experience managing component footprints and libraries and reading datasheets.
• U.S. Person status with access to ITAR/EAR data.

Responsibilities

• Capture schematics from hardware architecture and maintain consistency with interfaces and power definitions.
• Lay out multilayer boards with placement, routing, and layer stackup.
• Select components matching electrical requirements and NDAA/Blue UAS constraints.
• Own the component library including footprints and 3D models.
• Apply signal integrity and power integrity practices in layout.
• Prepare fabrication and assembly documentation.
• Work with fab/vendors through DFM reviews and first article.
• Lead design reviews and track findings to closure.

Skills

Schematic capture

PCB layout

ECAD proficiency

Read datasheets

Footprint management

Education

Electrical engineering degree or related field

Equivalent practical experience

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence Allegro

KiCad

Job description

Powerus is building a next-generation American autonomous systems platform designed to move, protect, and sustain critical assets in high-consequence environments. The company combines advanced autonomy, manufacturing capability, operational expertise, and strategic acquisitions to support defense, national security, critical infrastructure, and commercial operations globally.

Mission

Our mission is to deliver resilient autonomous technologies that strengthen national security, improve operational safety, and expand the capabilities of organizations operating in complex environments.

Why Join Powerus

An architecture only becomes an aircraft once someone turns it into copper. Layer stackups, return paths, footprint accuracy, and the tolerances a fabricator and an assembly house can actually hold are what decide whether a board works on the first article or costs a spin. As Powerus moves its platforms from prototype quantities into production build in North Carolina and California, that work stops being a drafting task and becomes a schedule-critical discipline.

This role is the one that realizes the boards. You will take architecture from the avionics, power, and payload teams and carry it through schematic capture, layout, and fabrication into hardware that comes back clean, buildable, and repeatable. It is a hands‑on seat with a short loop between a decision you make and a board you hold.

Position Overview

Powerus is hiring a PCB Design Engineer to own schematic capture and multilayer board layout across our unmanned platforms. This position requires U.S. Person status, as the work involves access to export‑controlled technical data. You will translate hardware architecture into manufacturable designs, maintain the component and footprint libraries the rest of engineering builds from, and work directly with fabrication and assembly vendors on stackup, tolerance, and process questions. You will partner with avionics, power, RF, and manufacturing engineers, and you will see your designs through fabrication, assembly, and first‑article inspection.

Key Responsibilities

• Capture schematics from hardware architecture and requirements, and keep them consistent with the interface and power definitions they come from
• Lay out multilayer boards including placement, routing, plane definition, and layer stackup for mixed digital, analog, power, and RF sections
• Select components against electrical requirements, availability, footprint accuracy, and NDAA and Blue UAS sourcing constraints
• Own the component library - symbols, footprints, land patterns, and 3D models - and the review process that keeps new parts correct before they reach a board
• Apply signal integrity and power integrity practice in layout: controlled impedance, return path continuity, decoupling strategy, and length and skew management on critical nets
• Design for manufacturability, assembly, and test - panelization, fiducials, courtyard and clearance rules, test point coverage, and stencil and process considerations
• Prepare and release fabrication and assembly documentation, including drawings, netlists, output packages, BOMs, and revision control
• Work with fab and assembly vendors through design for manufacturing review, quoting, first article, and yield or process feedback
• Run and document design reviews with hardware, mechanical, and manufacturing engineers, and track review findings to closure

Qualifications

• Must be located in the United States, within commuting distance of Charlotte, NC, and able to work on‑site
• Degree in electrical engineering, electronics technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Experience capturing schematics and laying out multilayer printed circuit boards in a professional ECAD tool such as Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro, or KiCad
• Working understanding of layer stackup, controlled impedance, return paths, and grounding as they apply to layout decisions
• Familiarity with component packaging, footprint construction, and library management, including how a wrong land pattern shows up at assembly
• Comfort reading datasheets and mechanical drawings, and reconciling electrical, mechanical, and enclosure constraints on the same board
• U.S. Person status required (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)); this role involves access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled technical data

Preferred Qualifications

• Boards designed for UAV, aerospace, automotive, or other vibration and temperature exposed environments
• Experience with high-speed digital routing, differential pairs, or RF layout on mixed-technology boards
• Exposure to rigid-flex, high-density interconnect, or thermally demanding power layouts
• Familiarity with IPC standards for design, fabrication, and assembly acceptance
• Direct interaction with fabrication and assembly vendors, including design for manufacturing feedback and process constraints
• Experience supporting a board through production ramp and first-article inspection

What We Look For

We are looking for someone who takes layout seriously as engineering rather than as drafting. The people who do well here care about the detail a reviewer would miss, ask the fabricator what they can actually hold before committing a stackup, and would rather redraw a footprint than explain a rework. You should be comfortable being the person who says a design is not ready to release, and equally comfortable sitting with a hardware engineer at a monitor arguing about where a plane split belongs.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Powerus is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and mission-driven workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.